[Contender]

U.N. Holds Conference on Small Arms

News/Current Events Breaking News News Keywords: GLOBAL GUN CONTROL & SOVEREIGN RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENSE.
Source: NewsDay.com
Published: 07-07-01 1151EDT Author: EDITH M. LEDERER
Posted on 07/07/2001 09:57:11 PDT by FirstFreedom
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The United Nations is holding its first international conference on the illegal trade of small arms, used in 90 percent of the world's conflicts and the biggest global killer apart from AIDS.

But getting the 189 U.N. member states to agree on ways to fight and ultimately eradicate trafficking in pistols, assault rifles, machine guns and other light weapons is going to be tough, if not impossible, diplomats and arms experts say.

The problem is that many countries -- whether major powers, war-ravaged nations, buyers or suppliers of arms -- have different ideas on how the illegal trade should be tackled.

As a result, the program of action to be adopted at the end of the two-week conference that starts Monday is unlikely to include any of the tough measures in the latest draft.

[Among the most hotly debated proposals are calls for governments to pass laws to control the legal manufacture, transfer, and possession of small arms and to agree to standardized export criteria.]

[Measures that would require manufacturers to mark all weapons so they can be identified and traced and to supply small arms and light weapons only to governments are also likely to come under fire.]

[And, a proposal ''to seriously consider'' prohibiting trade and private ownership of small arms designed for military use is vehemently opposed by gun rights activists in the United States and will likely be rejected by the U.S. delegation.]

''I think that perhaps the document is not going to be as strong as we would have liked, but it is a step in the right direction,'' U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said. ''It is a recognition by the international community that we need to do something about these weapons.''

Many diplomats, U.N. officials, and anti-gun activists agree that at a minimum, the conference will spotlight the proliferation of these cheap, easily transportable weapons.

''When you look at the history of the last 20 years or so, most of the killing in the world, apart from the AIDS epidemic, is being done by small arms,'' Annan said. ''I hope we can get the manufacturers and governments to work with us in controlling the flow of these illicit arms.''

According to U.N. estimates, between 40 and 60 percent of the more than 500 million small arms and light weapons in the world are illegal. They were the weapons of choice in 46 of the 49 major conflicts fought during the 1990s -- conflicts in which 4 million people died, 90 percent of them civilian, and the vast majority women and children.

But arms are also a major money-spinner, an important consideration for many governments.

The legal arms trade is one of the biggest global businesses, conservatively valued at more than &#3620 billion annually. Arms trafficking is the second largest illicit business after drugs.

As for small arms, the legal trade is estimated at &#364-6 billion annually and the illegal trade at about &#361 billion, according to the U.N. Development Program.

In the debate over curbing the illegal trade, arms experts say some countries want to ensure that their profits are not touched. [Others oppose interference in their sovereign right to self-defense.]

Representatives from more than 120 countries have signed up to speak at the U.N. conference, with Colombia's vice president and the foreign ministers of Belgium, the Netherlands, Iran and Ireland on Monday's schedule. John Bolton, the U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, is also scheduled to speak.

Supporters and opponents of gun control and human rights activists are among the 177 non-governmental organizations taking part.

[''We're going to be there standing for freedom,'' said Wayne LaPierre, chief executive officer of the National Rifle Association. ''They fully intend, as I see it, to put a global standard ahead of an individual country's freedom.'' Mary Leigh Blek, president of the U.S. Million Mom March which brought 750,000 (another lie) people to Washington last year to demonstrate against handguns, said she'll be at the United Nations, too.]

''These are instruments of death and their toll is too painful not to do anything to regulate the flow,'' said Bleck.

Human Rights Watch said its expectations for the conference are low because its scope is limited to illicit weapons.

[''If you do not control what happens to legally traded weapons, they slip into the black market,'' said Joost Hiltermann, executive director of Human Rights Watch's arms division.]

Bangladesh's U.N. Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury, a member of the U.N. Security Council, admitted there are problems and stumbling blocks.

[''But I believe that this is a major initiative coming out of the U.N.,'' he said. ''Whatever we get out of this conference -- whatever minimum even -- would add on to the efforts that are being made globally to contain small arms.'']


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TRT United Nations Protest Rally Saturday July 14th 12 noon to 4pm (or until we have had enough fun) Dag Hammarskjold Plaza E 47 St, 1 To 2 Aves. NY,NY
As the United Nations gather to attempt to enact there vision for an unarmed and enslaved world we will gather as Americans have always gathered to face a threat to her safety.

For many years the U.N has been working to disassemble the soul of every free nation, Sovereignty.

Now they assemble to remove the one thing, which we as Americans posess, which guarantees our Liberty, our Second Amendment our civil right.

As of right now we are still awaiting our rally permit from the NYC Parks Dept.

With out this permit the TRT will STILL hold a demonstration but obviously without the format listed below. In this event it will have to be an old fashioned roll up your sleeves and grab your bullhorn kind of day.

Live musical entertainment will be graciously provided by Poker Face !

Speakers as of this moment will include.
Tom Chandler and Phil Longden TRT-NY
Bob Glass TRT President and Robert Teesdale National Director TRT-CO
Louis Wein New York State Constitution Party
Rick Mase TRT-PA and Father of a Gun control victim
A few others are pending.

Signs should not only contain our RKBA rights but all our rights, which the U.N holds in contempt.

Flags should include Old Glory/Betsy Ross, POW/MIA, Gadsen and Culpepper!

A few good Patriots from the NY Capital District are organizing a bus with possible stops if the interest is there along the NYS Thruway. If interested please email us at [email protected]

Also keep an eye on FreeRepublic.com for other bus rides being organized.

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." Thomas Jefferson

 

[hotrod53]

Contender,

I love your quote from H.L. Mencken!  <!--emo&--><img src="http://beartoothbullets.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''><!--endemo-->  If you've never read the science trilogy by C.S. Lewis, you must!  It gives full meaning to this quote of Mencken.  

"the biggest global killer apart from AIDS."  I simply do not believe that line.  Autos?  Other diseases?  A gun is a killing machine, not a killer.  There is a difference.  Hitler was a killer, but hardly pulled the trigger himself.  

Of all the gun control strategies, this one concerns me the most.  Thanks for the post, I'll be watching the progress of these talks.  It'll be interesting to see what kind of new coverage this threat to our freedom evokes in the media.  

 

[Bill M]

I guess the part so hard for me to believe is that we (the United States) acutally subsidize around 25% of the overall UN budget.  It's like paying somebody to break into your house and rob you.  Send 'em packing!

only my 2 cents worth of course

God bless..................  Bill M

 

[Coldfingers]

Grrrrr!

I cannot help but think of phrases like "UNholy alliance"
and "making your bed with a harlot".

Probably just a matter of time, but our Nation is in grave danger from the "peacekeepers".

I contine to pray that He would tarry.

Scotty

 

[hotrod53]

Hi fellas,

Here's where you can keep track of this thing:

http://www.un.org/depts/dda/CAB/smallarms/webcast.htm

Keep the faith, freedom comes at a cost.  It is never free.  If you think it is free, you are already losing it.  

 

[DOK]

The UN Small Arms subject is this evenings CNN Headliner story on their CNN.com web site:
                       -------------------------
Despite criticism by gun-control advocates and other U.N. members, the United States Monday told delegates at a major international arms conference that it opposes any attempt to impose broad worldwide controls on the sale of legal firearms.

"We do not support measures that would constrain legal trade and legal manufacturing of small arms and light weapons," said John Bolton, U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security affairs.
"The vast majority of arms transfers in the world are routine and not problematic. Each member state of the United Nations has the right to manufacture and export arms for purposes of national defense," he said.

The Small Arms Working Group, an alliance of U.S.-based nongovernmental organizations, accused Bolton of lobbying for the National Rifle Association.
"What we actually heard was the National Rifle Association speaking from the podium," said Michael Beard, president of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.
The United Nations estimates there are at least 500 million small arms and light weapons in circulation -- one for every 12 people on Earth.

Most are in the hands of police forces, national armies and lawful private gun owners, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette told the conference. But that does not diminish the problem, he said.
"Even in societies not torn by conflict, the proliferation of small arms has contributed to a culture of violence and crime," Frechette said.

Small arms have been the weapon of choice in 46 of 49 major conflicts since 1990, contributing to some 4 million deaths, with women and children accounting for 80 percent of those, Frechette added.

Hundreds of diplomats, gun-control and gun-rights activists and representatives of other nongovernmental organizations are attending the two-week conference on the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons.
The meeting is scheduled to end July 20 with the adoption of a plan of action for fighting illicit arms trafficking.

Although not legally binding, the plan is expected to call on U.N. members to develop national systems to regulate arms brokers and exports and to ensure manufacturers mark small weapons so their movements can be traced.

Colombian Defense Minister Gustavo Bell Lemus, whose country's civil war is fueled by small arms, said Monday small arms kill more people than any other weapons.
"Practically every year, there are more casualties than those produced by Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We can describe these small arms and weapons as arms of mass destruction," Lemus said.

Rep. Bob Barr, R-Georgia, a member of the National Rifle Association, warned delegates at the conference not to try to "dictate domestic policy" in the United States.
"If in fact the U.N. through this effort ... moves in that direction, then I think it will make it more difficult perhaps for the U.N. to achieve the level of support that it would like to in Congress to further its legitimate goals," Barr said at a press conference.
                          ----------------
I suggest we need to help people like Rep. Barr continue in office -- and contributing to the NRA is the best way I know.

Dan

 

[Bill Lester]

I can think of no better way for the pro-UN crowd to hasten calls for the U.S. to leave that worthless organization than by advocating strict "gun controls" on American citizens from without. They would be fueling the fire that will burn them alive.

This effort has about as much clout in the USA as Chicken Little's prediction that the sky is falling.